The Nimrod Review - Official Documents

Chapter 12 – History of RAF In-Service Support (1990-2009)
CHAPTER 12 – HISTORY OF RAF IN-SERVICE SUPPORT (1990-2009)
Contents
Chapter 12 sets out a brief history of the RAF in-service support for aircraft during the period 1991 to 2008. In this
Chapter, I answer the following questions:
Summary
Which organisations have been responsible for providing in-service support and airworthiness
arrangements for RAF aircraft?
How have they evolved and changed over the past 18 years?
With what effect?
What is the current structure?
What are the regulations relevant to airworthiness?
1. Huge organisational changes took place in the In-Service support and airworthiness arrangements
for Defence equipment and RAF aircraft in the years prior to the loss of XV230.
2. It is necessary to understand the history, nature and scale of these changes in order better to
understand the organisational causes which contributed to the loss of XV230.
3. In essence, there were three themes at work:
3.1 First, a shift from organisation along purely ‘functional’ to project-oriented lines, i.e. a move
from having different organisations responsible for different aspects of support, to having
individual multi-disciplinary bodies for each platform. 1
3.2 Second, the ‘rolling up’ of organisations to create larger and larger structures 2 as a result of:
(a) a drive to create more tri-service (i.e. ‘purple’) 3 organisations by the merger of single-Service
Royal Navy, Army and RAF bodies; and (b) a move to ‘whole-life’ management of equipment by
merging procurement and in-service organisations.
3.3 Third, the ‘outsourcing’ to industry of increasingly more of the functions traditionally carried
out by those in uniform.
4. These features were at their most intense during the period 2000-2006 (see below).
5. Prior to 1991, procurement and In-Service support of aircraft were arranged on purely functional
lines, i.e. Engineering (including airworthiness), Logistics, Finance and Commercial. Procurement
was the responsibility of the MOD (Procurement Executive) (MOD(PE)) and In-Service support was
arranged on single-Service lines (Royal Navy, Army, RAF).
6. Since 1991, there have been four periods of change:
6.1 1991-1994: early MDG era: when “Multi-Disciplinary Groups” (MDGs) were introduced,
which combined the Engineering and Logistics functions of In-Service support for
individual aircraft types. 456
1 i.e. type of aircraft, tank, ship etc.
2 Culminating in the single Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) of today.
3 Navy, Khaki and Light Blue = Purple.
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